Removable seat covers for vehicles are extensively used by consumers to protect permanent seat upholstery, provide a more decorative appearance, and/or to hide unattractive or damaged upholstery. They are also useful for reduction of sweating, which typically occurs with leather seats; insulation from certain seat materials, such as vinyl or leather, that are characterized by high heat absorption, making them uncomfortable to sit on when first entering a vehicle during hot weather; and for overall comfort for the user. They are also useful for reducing wear and tear on the interior, and for use in transporting small children and pets who tend to be hard on upholstery.
Many different types of automotive seat covers are commercially available in the marketplace today. These include seat covers for highback seats, lowback seats, and seats with and without headrests. There are also covers for seats with seatbelts mounted on the car frame. Currently there exist seat covers that stretch to conform and those with various mechanisms such as straps with hooks, tails, tubes, and rods as means for attaching a cover to a seat. The materials used to construct seat covers include stretchable fabrics, vinyls and other synthetic materials, as well as sheepskin and wool.
The seat covers of interest with respect to the present invention are those that are designed to be adaptable for most bucket seat designs, sometimes called universal seat covers. D276,288 and D387,604 disclose designs for seat covers for automobile bucket seats. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,669,779 and 4,676,549 describe one-piece seat covers. U.S. Pat. No. 4,958,886 discloses a so-called universal-fit cover, which is designed to fit both to low-back and high-back bucket seats. U.S. Pat. No. 5,005,901 describes a removable seat cover. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,403,066 and 5,618,082 describe stretchable terry cloth seat covers. U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,345,866 and 6,447,059 disclose adjustable seat covers for high or low back seats.
No slip-on, easy to install, seat covers have been found in the art of the type which are adaptable to various bucket seat configurations, or universal, which also permit the functionality of seat-integrated seat belts and armrests.